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Cricket Thread

So Australia has a new coach, Justin Langer. While he has done really good work at state level it seems an odd change considering CA are hoping to create a culture change in the Aussie team (or at least that is what they are saying in the meda). By all accounts Langer is a very humble, hard working and even spiritual guy, however he came into the national under the 'play hard' attitude of Bob Simpson and was a key member of the Steve Waugh team that really took sledging to a new level.

The new captain Tim Paine seems to be saying all the right things and certainly wasn't embedded in the culture of the old team so that is a big step forward.

The proof will come when we start losing matches and commentators back here inevitably say that the team isn't 'tough enough' or has 'gone soft'.

I've already heard some stuff from Langer that makes me think he isn't going to be the counterbalance that Aussie cricket needs, and claims to want.

Might be a decent enough fella for all I know, but he hasn't made the right noises already from the bits I've seen. Plus, as a fairly committed John Howard fan I don't know how much he was ever going to be the right pick for that side of things.

On the other hand, can't fault him as a cricketer. Top pick in that regard.

The new ECB competition they've announced, the 100, is getting pilloried by pundits and players alike. The latest suggestion from them was that it didn't matter that the likes of Root and Stokes weren't going to be playing in it because this was for a new mass audience and 'they wouldn't know who these players are anyway'. You can imagine how that went down. There's now talk about the ECB are the only governing body to have nothing but contempt for the sport they govern. It's a real fucking mess.

While some would say other are better I feel like of this current generation there has been no more all round destructive batsmen than this guy. He could do it across all formats and could defend just as well as he could attack.

Amazing batsmen, great servant of this country and good luck to him making millions on the Twenty20 circuit. I'm just glad Australia don't have to face him again.

Cricket Australia does look reasonably rotten to the core at the moment and from what I've heard from Langer he doesn't sound like a guy who'll fix it.

In other news, 'fair fucks' as the Irish say to Scotland for that win over England. Their cricket has come on leaps and bounds in recent years. Yet more proof that the ICC decisions regarding reducing the number of teams is just bizarre. Must be one of the only governing bodies that is actively trying to prevent the growth of the game.

I love how English conditions balance bat and ball so well. In Australia things tend to be a little too flat and batsmen can sometimes get too much of an advantage and it is only a matter of getting your eye in and you are set. That rarely seems to be the case in England where there always seems to be a bit of something for the bowlers, particularly if they can swing it. Of course part of that comes down to the fact that there is just more moisture in the air in England that Australia however when even the once fearsome Wacca becomes a road it is sad indeed.

You've got a point, Sam. Generally speaking tests at home are more entertaining than tests away. And not just because we win more of them, but for the reasons you outline in your post.

Alastair Cook's last test for England today. I'll miss him. Feels a bit like the end of an era, like the last of the old-style batsmen in our squad is calling it a day. Sad times for a fan like me. And bad news for England generally since they still haven't found someone to open the innings with him since Strauss quit. Now we need to find two of them!

Yeah, that's great. Pleased for him, and for Anderson becoming the most prolific fast bowler of all-time, too.

Cook though in particular has a monumental feeling. I'll probably always be a test cricket fan so long as there is test cricket, but I think it's apparent that for some time the game has been changing, influenced by both it's decline in popularity in some key markets (such as the West Indies) and in the greater financial clout of the shorter forms of the game. It seems fewer and fewer people really understand the rhythms of test cricket anymore and how to play the game the way it was for centuries. In that, Cook's retirement feels like the end of an era, that certainly in English cricket the glory days of the cricket I grew up with is coming to an end. And that's a sad thing, though I guess the 'sweet' part of the 'bittersweet' is that I got to enjoy watching such a fine batsman for more than a decade. And we'll always have that away Ashes series....

Cook was someone Australian fans held such immense respect for, probably because of how massively he proved us wrong with the way he put us to the sword in that 2010/11 ashes series. He never seemed to reach those heights again at least against Australia but because of that he was always a prized wicket.

On a different note. I just listened to a fantastic podcast with Justin Langer, one of the key members of the golden generation and new national coach. I was so inspired with the way he talked about cricket. His passion for cricket is infectious and I think we are in very good hands.

Cook was someone Australian fans held such immense respect for, probably because of how massively he proved us wrong with the way he put us to the sword in that 2010/11 ashes series. He never seemed to reach those heights again at least against Australia but because of that he was always a prized wicket.

I hope to listen to the Langer thing when I've got a bit more time (I still have my reservations that I expressed above but there's no doubt he was a fine, fine cricketer - what you'd give for him to be able to pad up now!), but just wanted to add another couple of words on Cook, quickly. He kinda kept that going when he first got the captaincy, and was pretty brilliant in that India series after the transition from Strauss. But in general, I think while he never hit the heights again, a big part of that is just how high the heights were. It's the best performance away from home by an English batsman since I've been following the team - and in pure records terms it's the best away performance in an Ashes series (by an English player, anyway) since Wally Hammond in the 1920s. So while he never quite that again, there was still plenty of good cricket even if it wasn't absolutely astonishing.

But the thing I liked about him is that even though his batting wasn't quite so strong, his captaincy improved as he went on. I don't think he was ever quite as natural at it as Strauss, who just seemed to have 'it', but Cook was a damn fine captain by the end and the contrast with Root - who I must admit I think is a tad overrated here in the UK both as a batsman and a captain - is something I feel quite strongly. And he's far from the first English batsman to see their average decline when they become the captain. That happened to Mike Atherton when I was a kid and I think it's happened to most people to take the job since. I'm consequently a bit philosophical about it - as long as you're contributing occasionally, and making up for it with good captaincy, then I don't worry too much.

Seems there are fewer things as thankless and disappointing than being an Aussie cricket fan, after they put in an incredible performance to save a match and get you all excited the next match they smash your heart against the wall with yet another batting collapse.

Can we bring back Steve Waugh at 5 please? He may be 50 years old but at least he will sure up an end.

Also to your point above about batting and being captain, the same thing happened to Mark Taylor, Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke all of them had a number of rough patches as captain and their averages took a nose dive toward the end of their tenure particularly.

An independent review into the culture of the organisation was utterly damning. Some of the findings were that the international players were put on a pedestal and made to feel a law unto themselves, communication between the board and sporting aspects of the organisation had all but broken down and the corporate side had done nothing in response to the issues with the toxic playing culture that had developed despite claiming they held players to account.

Cricket Austrslia's response was to try to bury it and rush through their AGM, giving the state bodies litteraly 15min to read through it before the votes. Thankfully Cricket NSW held out and now the Chairman of CA has resigned. Mark Taylor is tipped to take over but from all reports he would be more of the same.

In other news, tomorrow is the start of England's first test of the post-Cook era. Think it must be the first time in about twelve years he hasn't played in an England test. Chance for someone to step up and be counted, but if they don't... oh boy, our batting could look very weak.

Summer series against India starts today. Aussie cricket is at war with itself. Lots of former players are having their say about how we are playing, most of them are new commentators trying to get their name out there. Shane Warne in particular has been utterly odeous, every time he opens his mouth my childhood worship of him dies a little.

Of particular note was Ussie Khawaja standing up for the current lot telling the old timers they don’t understand the way the game has changed. Good on him. As great as the past generation were on the field, they make very poor media spokesmen.